Widnes eye double boost from Warrington cup derby

Widnes won at Rochdale Hornets on their way to the last 16 of the Challenge Cup

Widnes Vikings are hoping the Challenge Cup derby against Warrington Wolves this weekend could help them push for the Championship title.

The two teams meet for the first time since the Vikings were relegated from Super League in 2018 and executive chairman Stuart Murphy says the revenue the game will generate could make a big difference to their campaign.

The DCBL Stadium could host more than 6,000 fans, with the club having to take the West Stand out of mothballs in order to accommodate the interest in the fourth-round tie, with Widnes already battling their way past Rochdale Hornets and North Wales Crusaders to land the plum tie.

The one-time world champions have fallen on hard times and were rescued from oblivion in 2019 by a consortium which included Wiganer Murphy, who freely admits he still watched his hometown club as well as being committed to the Vikings.

He told BBC Radio Merseyside Saturday's game could be a catalyst for a successful season, with the team having won two out of three Championship matches this season despite a crippling injury list.

"It's astronomical," he said. "Our average gate brings us £10,000 in. In terms of this game, we've got an awful lot of cost to put it on and get this stand (West Stand) operational etc but in terms of gate receipts, although it's a shared gate with Warrington, we'll probably get more money through the door for this game than we will for the rest of the season."

'Hoping for higher'

Murphy said the club "operated really stringently" last year to make sure they remained in the black, "because we needed it for IMG points and everything else. We stayed in the black by under £1,000," he added.

"We've already been hit by injuries this year that are costing us thousands to get sorted so it's a comfort blanket but also gives [coach] Allan [Coleman] the ability to have more loan players available, or get more players signed on until the end of the year.

"We were in the frame for challenging anyway. It does give us the ability, if we can get some players in on loan, or some signed for the back end of the year, to challenge.

"We came fifth last year and are hoping for higher again this year."

The lure of playing Super League title challengers Warrington, based just seven miles away, has grabbed the interest of a town which once boasted a team containing greats like Martin Offiah, Alan Tait and Jonathan Davies, and who became the first official World Club champions in 1989-90.

"We've surpassed 4,200 tickets as of this morning and Warrington have requested more so we've opened additional blocks. I'm hoping that we'll be getting 5,500 to 6,500 people here on Saturday," said Murphy.